Last December the DNC announced a comprehensive investigative study
of election administration issues arising in the 2004 Presidential
election in Ohio.

The purpose of this study was not to challenge the results of the
election. It was to understand and analyze thoroughly the problems that
had reportedly prevented many Ohio citizens from being able to vote and
to have their votes counted, in order to develop a solid factual basis
for advocating further reforms in our election system.

I want to thank Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile and the
members of the investigative team for their very thorough, outstanding,
and important work. This exercise is not about reliving the past. It is
about what we can do going forward to ensure that we keep the promise
that every American should have the opportunity to vote and to have
that vote counted. Our democracy depends on American's having
confidence that their voices will be heard when they cast their ballot.

This report is an important first step. We assembled a
first-rate team of political scientists, election experts from leading
academic institutions, voting machine technology experts, pollsters,
and people who had worked on the ground in Ohio, to examine these
issues. Donna will introduce them to you in a few minutes.

Today we are here to announce the results of their
investigation. Donna and her team will talk in just a moment about the
specifics of the report and the way the study was conducted, but I want
to make a couple of key points.

The results show that our election system failed the citizens of
Ohio in 2004, and in particular failed African Americans, new
registrants, younger voters and voters in places using touch screen
machines.

More than a quarter of all Ohio voters reported problems with their
voting experience.

Twice as many African American voters as white voters reported
experiencing problems at the polls.

Voters experienced incredibly long lines, some waiting as much as 8
hours. And African American voters reported waiting about twice as
often.

Nearly one quarter of all Ohio voters reported that their experience
in 2004 has made them less confident about the reliability of elections
in Ohio. And no wonder.

This is not right. This is not the American way, and it's not good
for our democracy when our citizens don't have confidence that their
voice is being heard.

Now this study focused on Ohio, but the truth is there was anecdotal
evidence from around the country, that raised serious questions about
the way elections are being conducted.

But we are not here to talk about the past -- we are here to talk
about where we go from here. We need to repair and restructure the way
we conduct elections in this country, in some fundamental ways.

This report is an important first step, we now have the factual
basis and a series of 23 concrete recommendations to review and study
to determine how we can work with elected officials at all levels,
community leaders, activists and citizens, to ensure that that the
right to vote and to have that vote counted -- the right that is the
bedrock of our democracy, that protects all other rights -- becomes a
reality for all Americans.

I'll be studying the report and putting together an action plan that
we will present at our next DNC meeting in September, '05. The
Democratic Party is committed to ensuring that we move forward from
today, ready to do the work required to reform the way elections are
conducted, and to ensure that we restore American's confidence in our
election system.

But I also want to encourage the Republican Party to review the
report -- this is not about one party, this is about protecting our
democracy.

I now ask Donna Brazile and her team to discuss our findings and
recommendations in more detail.